Fabrizio De André, the revered Italian singer/songwriter, created a deep and enduring body of work over the course of his career from the 1960s through the 1990s. With these translations I have tried to render his words into an English that reads naturally without straying too far from the Italian. The translations decipher De André's lyrics without trying to preserve rhyme schemes or to make the resulting English lyric work with the melody of the song.

In "Girotondo," De André marries the joyous melody of a popular song "Marcondiro'ndera" with the deadly serious theme of the possible annihilation of humankind through the use of nuclear weapons in war, intensified with the use of a chldren's chorus. After the success of "La canzone di Marinella," Italy's state television station Rai invited De André often to sing his big hit. But De André refused until he could choose what material to present. Among other songs, he chose "La guerra di Piero" and "Girotondo," anti-war anthems that reflected De André's deeply held pacifism.

If war will come, Marcondiro'ndero
if war will come, Marcondiro’ndà
on the sea and on the land, Marcondiro'ndera
on the sea and on the land who will save us?

We’ll be saved by the soldier who doesn’t want it,
we’ll be saved by the soldier who refuses war.

The war has already broken out, Marcondiro'ndero,
the war has already broken out, who will help us?

The good Lord will help us, Marcondiro'ndera
the good Lord will help us, he will save us.

The Good Lord has already escaped, where is not known.
The Good Lord went away, who knows when he’ll return?

Tutti morimmo a stento, released in 1968, was one of the first concept albums in Italy. In De André's own words, the album "speaks of death, not of bubble gum death with little bones, but of psychological death, moral death, mental death, that a normal person can encounter during his lifetime." After the success of Volume I, De André was provided for this next album a cutting edge recording studio complete with an 80-member orchestra, directed by Gian Piero Reverberi, and a children's chorus. The whole project was under the direction of Gian Piero's brother Gian Franco Reverberi. This album also met with commercial success, becoming the highest selling album in Italy in 1968. In 1969 a version of the album was made with De André re-recording the vocals in English. The album was not officially released.